Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I might deal with a number of the questions in a job lot. I want to thank the members for Canning and Sturt as well as Whitlam and Dunkley for their questions. In relation to the specific questions from the member for Canning, the government obviously agrees with his points that the earlier payments of government bills contribute to a faster flow of capital throughout the economy and of course have a greater benefits for those recipients of those government services. So ensuring that the government pays our bills on time to private sector suppliers is important. That's why, from 1 January 2020, some of the larger Australian government agencies started to pay their electronic invoices to suppliers within five days. This applies to contracts valued up to $1 million where a supplier and Commonwealth agency both use the internationally recognised framework for delivering these e-invoices. If an Australian government agency fails to meet this requirement of paying that bill within five days, then it's liable to pay interest on any of those late payments.

The ATO is providing information to businesses and private sector suppliers in relation to the use of various accounting software. This means that suppliers have the technology they need to send invoices in the correct form—again, ensuring that there are no unnecessary delays. This has led to many accounting systems providers adopting the new international standards for e-invoicing, allowing their clients to exchange data directly. Again, government is mandating to some extent and then driving a greater uptake of that particular technology, not just with those who are contracting with government but also more broadly in the private sector.

The member for Sturt had some specific queries in relation to the Australian Electoral Commission and ICT upgrades. This is the most significant measure for the Finance portfolio in the 2020-21 budget. As we've all seen—and have probably been reminded of in recent days—the Australian electoral system is one of the best-regarded electoral systems in the world, and we need to invest in our system if we're to manage risks and live up to contemporary public expectations. The AEC has worked with the government to actively plan for modernisation of its ICT systems for the past three years. We've, of course, provided previous funding to support this work, and the further allocation of $96.7 million over three years will facilitate that modernisation agenda. The first tranche of upgrades will modernise key election capabilities for supply chain management and a temporary election workforce.

The member for Whitlam had a succession of questions. I might just touch on the use of consultants, which I think he commenced with in his first question. And of course the government's committed to delivering services as efficiently and effectively as possible, and this will include the use of consultants to deliver special services. I might just note, though, to the member that it's already mandatory to include data on consultancy spending in agency reports. This is a requirement imposed by section 17AG of the Public Governance Performance and Accountability Rule. We recently made bipartisan changes to extend this requirement to all contracts so that they have to be published in the 2021 annual reports, and some agencies are already doing that.

I might also remind the member for Whitlam—not remind him, probably inform him, given his statements seem not to understand this—that the value of consultancy contracts in real terms in 2018-19 is in fact $91.6 million lower than it was in 2009-10. I'm not an expert on the member for Whitlam's career, but if he was a member of that government then the government of which he was a member had higher real spending on consultants than this, which obviously means his criticisms apply much more harshly to the government of which he was a part of. So I'm very pleased to inform him that, in real terms, that spending is down.

I'd say to the member for Dunkley: on procurement, of course, we're balancing a number of objectives, getting the best bang for buck for taxpayers and fuelling industry wherever possible and that's what our procurement policy does.

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